Nightcrawler
Origin Powers Allies Kalyna Sekura L'arc en Ciel Enemies Location Appearances Fan Fiction Historic Information Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) is a fictional character, a comic book superhero in the Marvel Universe. He has been associated with both the X-Men and Excalibur, originally appearing in graphic novels published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, he first debuted in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (May 1975). A mutant of German extraction, Nightcrawler possesses superhuman agility and the ability to teleport. His physical mutations include blue fur, three-toed and -fingered feet and hands, yellow eyes, and a prehensile tail. In Nightcrawler's earlier comic book appearances he is depicted as being a happy-go-lucky practical joker and teaser, and a fan of swashbuckling fiction. Nightcrawler is Catholic and while this is not emphasized as much in his earlier comic book appearances, in more recent depictions Nightcrawler is more vocal about his faith. Since his inception, Nightcrawler has had a regular presence in Marvel-related comic books and video games. He has featured in a small number of the 1990s X-Men animated series episodes and was a regular on its successor, X-Men: Evolution. In 2003, he was a major character in the film X2, and was portrayed by Alan Cumming. In 2006, IGN.com rated Nightcrawler at #7 on their list of Top 25 X-Men from the past forty years1 In 2008, Marvel rated their top ten X-Men of all time. Nightcrawler ranked #4 on their list. Nightcrawler is originally stated to be from a small village called Winzeldorf in the German state of Bavaria..2 In the X-Men animated series, it is said to be Neuherzl,3 and in the movie X2, he makes repeated references to his time in the Munich circus, though it is never explicitly specified from where he originated. Co-creator Dave Cockrum originally designed Nightcrawler to be part of a group of characters called The Outsiders (not to be confused with the later team The Outsiders), set in the universe of DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes series.4 As Nightcrawler had been rejected by DC,5 when Cockrum started work on the new X-Men in 1975, he brought the character's costume design (and overall unusual look) over to Marvel.6 Although an X-Men character for years, Nightcrawler did not get his own comic book title (written and drawn by Cockrum) until November 1985, when Nightcrawler, along with Lockheed, accidentally traveled to several alternate dimensions, meeting strange beings such as the Bamfs. (The Bamfs originally appeared in a story fellow X-Man Kitty Pryde told Illyana as a bedtime story in X-Men #153.) After various adventures, Nightcrawler and Lockheed managed to get home safely. A second four-issue limited series appeared in November 2002. Written by Chris Kipiniak and pencilled by Matthew Smith, it focused upon Nightcrawler's decision to become a priest and his attempts to fight a group of slave traders. In September 2004, the first Nightcrawler ongoing title book was published by Marvel. Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa with covers and pencils by Darick Robertson throughout the series duration, it featured the story arcs "The Devil Inside", "Ghosts On The Rails", "The Winding Way", and the final twelfth issue entitled "Happy Birthday, Kurt!". At the end of "The Winding Way", Nightcrawler came into possession of Magik's Soulsword, which was stored inside his body. The Soulsword has several magical properties such as dispelling and blocking magical effects, and severely damaging magic users (while passing through normal humans and mutants harmlessly). The series followed Kurt through mystery stories of a supernatural nature. At the time, other X-Men subsidiary titles were steadily losing sales, and the Nightcrawler title was placed on an hiatus by Marvel in February 2005, following issue #6; it did not resume publishing until June of that year. Despite the efforts of the creative team with the "The Winding Way" story arc to tie in the previous stories, delve into Nightcrawler's past, and involve other X-Men franchise characters, the series was cancelled with issue twelve. Fictional character biography Origin Kurt Wagner was born with certain unusual physical characteristics, but his power of self-teleportation did not emerge until puberty. Margali Szardos, a sorceress and gypsy queen, allegedly found Wagner an hour after his birth, in a small roadside shelter in the Bavarian Alps. She claimed to have found his alleged father, Eric Wagner, dead of a heart attack on the road outside, and Kurt's mother lying next to the baby dyingneeded. However, this claim was later called into question, and it was subsequently provenneeded that Kurt's mother is the terrorist Mystique, also known as Raven Darkholme, and his father is the demonic warlord Azazelneeded. Mystique revealed& issue needed that she threw him into a river after a large mob found out about Nightcrawler's existence, and Azazel admitted& issue needed that he secretly saved his son from the fall, giving him to his lover and crony, Margali Szardos, to raise him. Margali took the baby to the small Bavarian circus where she worked as a fortuneteller, as a cover for her activities as a sorceress. Wagner was never legally adopted by anyoneneeded, but was raised by all the members of the circus, who had no prejudices against mutants. Margali acted as Wagner's unofficial foster mother. Wagner grew up happily in the circus, and his two closest friends were Margali's natural children Stefan and Jimaine. Long before his teleportation power emerged, Wagner had tremendous natural agility, and by his adolescence he had become the circus' star acrobat and aerial artist. Circus audiences assumed that he was a normal-looking human being wearing a devil-like costume. Years later, the Texas millionaire Arnos Jardine, who ran a large circus based in Florida, heard of the circus for which Wagner worked and bought it. Jardine intended to move its best acts into his American circus. However, he demanded that Wagner be placed in the circus' freak show. Jardine drugged him to prevent escape but a young mutant child with the ability to sense other mutants helped Kurt escape. Appalled, Wagner left and made his way toward Winzeldorf, Germany, where his foster brother Stefan was. He discovered that Stefan had gone mad and had brutally slain several children. When they were younger, Stefan had made Kurt promise to kill him if he ever took an innocent life. Two nights after leaving the circus, Wagner found Stefan and fought him, hoping to stop his rampage. In the course of the struggle, Wagner unintentionally broke Stefan's neck.7 The villagers of Winzeldorf, who assumed from Kurt's appearance that he was a demon who was responsible for the child killings, discovered Wagner. They were about to kill him when they were all psychically paralyzed by Professor Charles Xavier, who had come to recruit Wagner into the X-Men.8 Wagner agreed to join the group, but before they left for America, he and Xavier went to the Bavarian circus so that Wagner could explain to Margali about Stefan's death. However, Margali was not there. She held Wagner responsible for murdering Stefan, and created a facsimile of the hell from Dante's Inferno in which to punish him years later. Yet through the use of Doctor Strange's all-seeing Eye of Agamotto, she learned the truth and she and Wagner were reconciled. Wagner was also happily reunited with his foster sister Jimaine, who now lives in the United States and changes her name to Amanda Sefton, later becoming Kurt's girlfriend.9 Known as Nightcrawler, Wagner became a member of the X-Men. Some time later, Nightcrawler fought Shagreen the Sorcerer, and became lost in various dimensions in his first major solo adventure.10 Shortly after this, and once he had rejoined his teammates, a tactic designed to disable the super-Sentinel Nimrod backfired and Kurt found himself at the mercies of an angry mob (in a nod to his first appearance in Giant Sized X-Men #1) without his teleportation ability. He was rescued by Shadowcat, Colossus, and Magik but feared he had lost his ability for good.11 His power returned but left him drained and vulnerable when he used it, again leading to self doubt about his worth to the team. It may have been these feelings that led him to use his "multi-port" stunt to disable Vertigo during the Mutant Massacre. This tactic left him unable to escape Riptide's attack, leading to horrific injuries and his subsequent coma.12 Excalibur While he recovers from these injuries, his fellow X-Men are apparently killed on a mission in Dallas. Not long after, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat leave to join Captain Britain in an adventure in the UK. They fought Gatecrasher's group of inter-dimensional mercenaries known as the Technet. The heroes work together so well, they decide to form a group they name Excalibur.13 Captain Britain originally assumes leadership of the group, but Nightcrawler gradually takes the responsibility. While Captain Britain and Meggan's relationship goes through a rocky time Nightcrawler becomes interested in Meggan, a feeling that is reciprocated but never consummated& issue needed. During his time with Excalibur, he takes charge of the Technet, re-naming them his 'N-Men'& issue needed, and he becomes romantically involved with his teammate Cerise before she leaves to stand trial for the Shi'ar& issue needed. Later, his former girlfriend, Amanda Sefton, joins the team and the two continue their previous relationship& issue needed. She leaves the team to take control of Limbo, a task that keeps her away from Earth, but the two remain close friends. Fearing it would be stolen from her, Amanda magically hides the Soulsword inside Nightcrawler's body& issue needed. Returning to the X-Men Nightcrawler back amongst the X-Men on the cover of X-Men (vol. 2) #80 drawn by Carlos Pacheco. For a time, Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler express some resentment over the X-Men's failing to contact them after their supposed deathsneeded. Following the wedding of Captain Britain and Meggan, Excalibur disbands and Nightcrawler returns to the X-Men with Shadowcat and Colossus. Yet, as soon as they return, they face a group of impostors following Cerebro, in the guise of Professor X. Wanting to devote more time to priesthood, Nightcrawler shares team leadership with Archangel. However, his work as a priest is retconned to be an illusion; he had, in fact, never attained priesthood& issue needed. He has also met his half-brothers Nils Styger, alias Abyss, and Kiwi Black. With them, Nightcrawler defeated his father Azazel, who had tried to use him as a pawn in conquering Earth. These controversialneeded storylines are written by writer Chuck Austen. Later& issue needed, Nightcrawler served as the new leader of the Uncanny X-Men team alongside Wolverine, Bishop, Psylocke, Cannonball, and Marvel Girl. In the last mission against the Foursaken& issue needed, Nightcrawler took Marvel Girl, Psylocke, Bishop, and Cannonball to Central Park. He later& issue needed helped Storm liberate Africa from her uncle's control. Afterwards, Professor X recruited him, along with Darwin, Havok, Marvel Girl, Warpath, and Polaris, to participate in a space mission to stop Vulcan from laying waste to the Shi'ar empire. 14 During the battle with Vulcan, Nightcrawler helps get the injured Professor X and Darwin back to their spaceship.15 While there, trying to save Professor X, Lilandra sent the ship on its way back to Earth, leaving half the team behind. Kurt is still part of Professor X's team, helping Charles find Magneto before the government does, while the rest of the team search for the Morlocks. Messiah Complex When the first mutant since M-Day appears, Cyclops sends him along with Wolverine, Angel, Storm and Colossus to find former Acolytes for information on the Marauders. It was predicted by Blindfold that Kurt would be seriously injured in the upcoming events and indeed this came true when he was shot by the Marauder, Scalphunter. Kurt seems to have nearly fully recovered from his injuries since he, along with Beast, the entire New X-Men team, and Professor X are teleported to Muir Island by Pixie.16 He takes part in the final battle. Divided We Stand Still recovering from his injuries, Kurt is traveling through Europe along with Wolverine and Colossus. Kurt and Wolverine are currently involved in a "war of pranks" as Peter calls it. One of the many pranks involved Logan hacking into Kurt's image inducer to make him look like Angelina Jolie, which results in a picture of Angelina and Peter appearing in assorted tabloid newspapers. The three of them travel to Russia where they visit the cemetery where Peter's family is buried. Afterwards they go to a local bar, where they discuss the recent loss of Kitty Pryde and the destruction of the X-Men. A fight occurs in the bar, during which their cover is blown. Soon after, the three of them are captured by the Russian government which demands to know why all their mutants were de-powered and why Colossus, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler retain their abilities. After a battle with Omega Red, the three heroes return to the US and rejoin the team now living in San Francisco.17 edit Manifest Destiny Kurt, along with Wolverine and Karma ambush the Hellfire Cult after a series of mutant related hate-crimes happen around San Francisco.18 He also has taken it upon himself to build a new chapel at Graymalkin Industries, the X-Men's new home and base of operations. During a training session in the Danger Room, he reveals he is trying to keep himself distracted because whenever he has time to think, he can't help but not think of Kitty, how the X-Men don't need him and that Pixie is a better teleporter than him. After battling (unsuccessfully) several simulated villains, he reprograms the danger room to show Kitty. He confesses he was sorry he wasn't there for her and hugs the simulation and cries. The simulation of Kitty replies that she misses Kurt too.19 Nightcrawler briefly believes that he no longer has a role with the X-Men, especially due to Pixie's abilities in teleporting. A trip back to Germany renews his conviction through an encounter with a boy cursed by gypsies into demonic form, a brush with Mephisto, and a romantic fling before he returns to San Francisco to aid the X-Men against a foe they struggled with lacking his help.20 Secret Invasion Kurt fights alongside the X-Men when the Skrulls invade San Francisco. He manages to come across a Skrull bible and, after studying it, he gives it to Beast who figures out how to deal with the Skrulls.21 X-Infernus Main article: X-Infernus Pixie and Kurt are training when he brings up Pixie's Soul Dagger. Pixie summons her Soul Dagger and stabs Kurt in the chest, knocking him out. When Pixie removes her soul dagger, Magik's Soulsword emerges from his chest.22 After Magik takes out Pixie, Mercury, Rockslide and Beast and teleport away. Kurt wakes up and stops Pixie from going after her and Pixie breaks down and apologizes for stabbing him. Later the X-Men gather and Kurt is put in charge of a team of X-Men to go help save Magik.23 Upon entering Limbo, Kurt, Mercury, Colossus, Rockslide, Pixie and Wolverine fight their way through many demons. Pixie, Mercury and Rockslide are horrified at how brutal the older X-Men are towards the demons. An octopus type creature attacks Kurt until Pixie jumps in and kills it with her Souldagger. Hearing the screams from the castle, Kurt teleports the X-Men into the throne room. Once there, Witchfire turns Colossus and Wolverine against Mercury and Rockslide. Kurt notices Illyana chained to a pillar and she asks him to stab her with Pixie's Souldagger, it's the only way and he is the only one to do it because he is attuned to magic. She apologizes and he stabs her, at that moment Colossus punches Kurt and Witchfire finished making her fifth and final Bloodstone from the now demonic Pixie.24 The fact however that Colossus and Wolverine have not killed him, makes Kurt realize they are not fully under her control. Using Pixie's Dagger, Kurt than pulls Illyana's Soul Sword from her, and uses it to free Wolverine and Colossus of Witchfire's control. Unfortunately, the demon manages to use the Bloodstones to summon the Elder Gods. Through their combined efforts, the X-Men and Magik managed to banish both Witchfire and the Elder Gods, but not without losing four of the five Bloodstones. Furious at losing another part of her soul, Pixie flees. Being told by Illyana to let her go, Kurt consoles Magik about the theology of a soul, before she teleports them back to Earth. Kurt, along with Colossus, Cyclops and the former New Mutants team, convinces her to say with them and join the X-Men. 25 edit Powers and abilities Kurt Wagner is a mutant whose primary mutant power is the ability to teleport himself, his clothing, and a certain amount of additional mass from one point to another virtually instantaneously. He does this by means of displacing himself through an alternate dimension briefly and reappearing in a desired location. He has been shown to be able to teleport distances of up to two miles (3 km) under optimal conditions, although it is at his extreme limit, and he can become severely fatigued if he tries to teleport that distance. (In one case, however, he teleports somewhere over 50 miles (80 km).26) Nightcrawler's teleportation ability is also affected by direction — north-south along Earth's "magnetic lines of force" is easier than east-west against them.27 He possesses a limited unconscious extrasensory "spatial awareness" ability which prevents him from teleporting into solid objects within his immediate vicinity, but this ability diminishes the farther the distance he teleports. Because teleporting into other solid matter would cause severe injury or death, he will only teleport to an area he is familiar with or that he can clearly see at the time or has seen in the past. His power automatically displaces liquids and gases when he "arrives". The process of teleportation places a strain on his endurance and that of any passengers; carrying mass other than his body and clothing when teleporting adds additional strain through his body. Through practice he has been able to teleport a passenger over a lengthy distance with himself without exhausting himself, but the strain on his body grows as the amount of mass he transports and the distance over which he teleports it increase. Extensive training has raised his tolerance for teleportation, but most of his passengers lack this tolerance. Therefore, one of his tactics is to grab opponents and make several quick teleportations with them. They usually are weakened or even pass out from the strain. After Nightcrawler teleports, he leaves behind smoke and a faint scent of burning brimstone; this is a small portion of the atmosphere of the dimension he travels through when he teleports. His teleportation power is due to a biophysical/biochemical reaction he consciously triggers within himself. A loud "bamf" noise is always present whenever he teleports (being the sound of air rushing to fill the space he was just occupying). His teleporting also causes a slight change in the atmosphere before he arrives, although only superhumans with heightened senses such as Daredevil can register it 28. In addition to his primary power of teleportation, Nightcrawler's physiology is unique in several different ways. His agility far surpasses that of an Olympic level gymnast, and his bone structure allows him great flexibility. His spine is more flexible than an ordinary human, enabling him to remain in a crouched position for a long time and perform contortionist-type feats without causing any damage to his spine. Nightcrawler's agility, balance, bodily coordination and flexibility are all enhanced to superhuman levels. He has an ability to cling to surfaces with his hands and feet in a manner similar to Spider-Man. He also possesses superhuman dexterity, being able to manipulate items and fence with either hand, both feet, and his tail. He has limited abilities to blend into shadows, both as a result of his indigo fur and his connection to the dimension through which he teleports.29 In his earliest incarnation, it was suggested that he could actually travel through shadows (in much the same way Psylocke did after exposure to the Crimson Dawn) and this was shown in Bizarre Adventures, but never really touched upon after that. In the story, Vanisher removes some of the Darkforce that formed his costume and threw it at Kurt, who disappeared. He then reappeared from within the Darkforce on the ground, saying that it was like "a pool of shadow" and that he "fell right through it." His abilities have interacted with Vanisher's on other occasions, such as when the two found themselves transported to various alternate dimensions.30 Nightcrawler has a prehensile tail, allowing him to grab onto objects with relative ease. His tail is strong enough to not only support his body weight, but also lift an adult man completely off the ground, and is deft enough to fight with as a sword or blunt object. Nightcrawler's eyes (which are constantly glowing) grant him a marked degree of heightened night vision, and it has been suggested that he has the ability to see in the infra-red spectrum as wellneeded. Aside from the abilities granted by his mutation, Nightcrawler is a superb fencer and a very skilled hand-to-hand combatant, to the point of being able to stalemate super-beings as powerful as Captain Britain. He has also served as the team's pilot and medic when no more qualified X-Men were around to do so. He and Wolverine were also the mechanics of the X-Men's Blackbird jet for a long time. He is also recognized by other Marvel characters as the leading authority on teleportation, with Spider-Man and Daredevil contacting him for information and advice following their first encounter with Francis Klum. For a long period, Kurt's body housed the Soulsword. Magik states that Kurt is attuned to magic and thus able to wield her Soulsword and Pixie's Souldagger.24 edit Family relations Eventually, it is revealed that Nightcrawler's biological mother, previously unknown, is the mutant terrorist Mystique, which had been hinted at to varying degrees since they first appeared together. It is also revealed that although Mystique was married to a wealthy German, Herr Wagner, Nightcrawler's father was Azazel, a member of a race of demonic-looking mutants dating back to Biblical times who were banished to another dimension by another race of angelic mutants. The storyline was furthered by the revelation that fellow X-Man Archangel's healing blood did not heal Nightcrawler, and in fact caused him great pain. Veteran comic book writer Chris Claremont had originally intended for Mystique and Destiny to have been Nightcrawler's biological parents. 31 Mystique, being a shape-shifter, would have taken the form of a man and impregnated Destiny. Marvel, however, felt the idea to be too controversial and an alternative origin was developed.needed Nightcrawler's siblings include his foster sister Rogue and half-brothers Graydon Creed from Mystique, and Abyss and Kiwi Black from Azazel. It is also revealed that in a parallel universe, an alternate Nightcrawler fathered a daughter with an alternate Scarlet Witch, named Nocturne, a dimensionally stranded mutant bearing traits similar to Nightcrawler himself. She has since referred to him as father. edit Characteristics Nightcrawler is a mutant born with fine blue-black fur covering his body, two fingers with an opposable thumb on each hand and only two toes, each longer than a normal human being's, on each foot and a third toe-like projection on his heel, as well as pronounced, fang-like canine teeth, yellow eyes, pointed ears, and a 3 1/2 foot long prehensile pointed tail which can support his weight. Among his more ironic character traits, Wagner is an extremely religious man. A devout Catholic, his demonic appearance obviously makes it very difficult to attend masses. Despite this, as mutants in the Marvel Universe become more accepted, he even managed to almost become a Catholic priest; unfortunately his studies were interrupted by a villainous group known as "The Neo." In contrast, Nightcrawler also has a knack for the spontaneous and exciting. He sees himself as a swashbuckler, usually comparing himself to Errol Flynn. He is, despite his looks, always charming and gallant, and several storylines contain Kurt's love life as a conflict to his religious nature. His days in the circus make him a gifted performer and showman. Kurt is also a jokester. He has a great sense of humor for someone in his situation. He always plays pranks on people; some even call him "Trickster" because his combined teleporting abilities and playful disposition enable him to play quite the joke. Wagner has used a personal holographic device called an image-inducer on several occasions to produce a holographic image of himself as an ordinary human (occasionally Errol Flynn himself) so that he might interact with non-mutants in a normal fashion. After losing a bet with his friend Wolverine, however, Nightcrawler was made to walk through town in his normal form for all to see. To his shock, the reaction of the average person on the street was simply one of startled interest. He was even able to sneak a kiss from a surprised, but unafraid woman. Kurt was, eventually, attacked by a carload of anti-mutant bigots, but he prevented Wolverine from tearing them to shreds, preferring to be merciful to the ignorant. The entire experience emboldened him, and he has since largely forsaken the use of this device, using it only when absolutely necessary. When Nightcrawler was first submitted as a character, it was for DC's Legion of Super-Heroes, but DC turned him down believing his look was too "Alien". Len Wein later sold the character to Marvel as an X-Men character, Len Wein has said that he wrote him as "a kind of tragic monster" and this was fairly apparent from his first scenes in Giant Sized X-Men #1 involving his flight from the mob and his subsequent reaction to them wanting to burn him down from the rooftop. It was Chris Claremont's scripting that evolved him into the swashbuckling hero he is today. Claremont stated that he took the idea that Nightcrawler thought "it was incredibly cool to be blue and furry." He also built up Nightcrawler's stout Catholic beliefs, a direct contrast to his demonic appearance. edit Other versions edit Age of Apocalypse In the Age of Apocalypse miniseries, Nightcrawler is similar to his 616 counterpart, but much darker and more violent, and he carries two sabers at all times, denoting his skills as a swordsman. Another important difference is that this Nightcrawler hates churches, having had a traumatic experience when he was younger. Nightcrawler is close to his mother, Mystique, and he even calls her "Mom." Nightcrawler is sent by Magneto to Avalon, an Antarctic utopia where humans and mutants peacefully coexist, to bring Destiny back to the United States to confirm Bishop's claims. While there, Avalon is attacked by Apocalypse's Pale Riders. Nightcrawler and Mystique vow to protect Avalon from the Pale Riders and are joined by fellow mutants Switchback and former Pale Rider Damask to face the Shadow King. Nightcrawler also goes by Kurt Darkholme instead of Kurt Wagner in this reality.32 The AOA Nightcrawler appears to always be "breathing fire" when teleporting. Presumably this is simply an optical illusion of his teleportation powers, as it does not appear to have any adverse effects on anything Kurt comes in contact with as he does so. Also, this version seemingly believes his biological father is Sabretooth as is evidenced by Mystique stating that she had gone to the trouble of "finding a father with fur" when Nightcrawler complains he is cold and, when the Shadow King possesses Mystique, the captions reveal "one memory is more interesting than the others" and flashes to Sabretooth taunting Nightcrawler. edit Bamf In Uncanny X-Men #153 Kurt's friend Kitty Pryde tells Illyana a bedtime story. In it she casts him as a cute creature called Bamf. He is only two feet tall and looks like a super deformed version of Kurt, even right down to his costume. He is fun-loving and somewhat lecherous. At first he only existed in a Fairy Tale, but Kurt himself met Bamf and the other characters from Kitty's story 33. It soon turns out there are multiple Bamfs, including female (and more winsome) versions; the Bamfs even declared him their "Daddy". The Bamfs later let their affection for Kitty Pryde get the best of them and even resorted to endangering Kitty's pet dragon Lockheed. edit Days of Future Past Nightcrawler is dead in the alternate timeline Earth-811, but he had a daughter known as Blue. She inherited the power to teleport herself and others, and a similar appearance. edit Exiles Nocturne is a former member of the alternate-reality traveling Exiles, but is now a member of New Excalibur. Like all members of the Exiles she is from an alternate dimension, and in her dimension the Scarlet Witch married Nightcrawler. Nocturne is the daughter of the Scarlet Witch and the Nightcrawler of that reality. In this reality, Charles Xavier was attacked several years earlier by a Shadow King-controlled Wolverine. Although the Shadow King was expelled from Wolverine's mind, Xavier was fatally wounded in the attack and Logan was left crippled. Shortly after, Jean Grey died and Cyclops, blaming Wolverine for both deaths, abandoned the team, leaving Wolverine and Nightcrawler as the leaders of the X-Men and the Xavier Institute. The demeanor of this Nightcrawler is very similar to that of the Earth-616 Nightcrawler, so the first time that Nocturne met 616-Nightcrawler she accidentally calls him "Dad." In subsequent meetings Nocturne and 616-Nightcrawler have developed a bond very closely resembling a father-daughter relationship. edit House of M In the House of M reality, Nightcrawler appears as a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Red Guard, a task force of elite mutants designed to quell insurrections; Nightcrawler has a small role when the Red Guard attempts to track down their leader, Wolverine, who remembers the world before the Scarlet Witch changed reality. Nightcrawler also appears in World of M, where he attempts to aid Apocalypse when the latter is under attack by Namor, Storm and Sunfire. edit Marvel Zombies Nightcrawler is seen as a zombie on the cover of Marvel Zombies vs Army of Darkness #1. He is bitten by the zombie Fantastic Four in the one-shot "Dead Days," one of the last superheroes to be infected. edit Ultimate Nightcrawler The Ultimate version of Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) reveals a much more militant young mutant, only fourteen years old when first introduced in this series of X-Men. His first appearances have him forced to battle the X-Men alongside a team of Weapon X agents. He had been captured by Weapon X and forced to act as an assassin and Black Ops agent. His Weapon X origins link him more closely with Ultimate Wolverine and Rogue than with his other teammates. Originally speaking only German, he did learn to speak English with the help of Jean Grey’s mental powers. Though Nightcrawler returns home after he escapes from Weapon X, he soon joined the X-Men in order to fight Magneto. Nightcrawler is originally shown as a friendly, humorous man with a zest for high adventure which has gained him the friendship of many of his fellow X-Men. One of Kurt's more notable friends was Angel who together have "misused" the Danger Room for Pirates of the Caribbean-like "role-playing" sessions under the name of "the dread Captain Blue Tail," as it is shown that he is a fan of the movie. He has a fan-crush on Keira Knightley. When Dazzler, Kurt's unrequited crush, slips into a coma due to injuries inflicted by Deathstrike, Kurt begins to lose control of his delicate psyche, regressing into his Weapon X days. His loneliness is further exacerbated by Angel's departure from the X-Men. Furthermore, his relationship with Colossus breaks down after Colossus reveals his preference for men. Shortly following Dazzler's awakening, Kurt's irrational increasing obsession with Dazzler prompted him to teleport her to a secluded cave, telling her that the X-Men had been attacked and that he was "protecting" her. The X-Men rescued Dazzler and confronted Kurt upon learning what he had done, resulting in a battle between the X-Men and their disturbed teammate. Kurt was defeated and was afterwards placed in a vegetative state by Charles Xavier in the hopes that Xavier could treat his damaged psyche. At his bedside, Rogue, who had absorbed his memories during the battle, told him she now considered him as much a monster on the inside as he appeared to be on the outside. Whether this statement regarded his activities as a Weapon X assassin or something else she experienced while privy to his memories remains to be seen. After Xavier was kidnapped by the time-traveling Cable, his hold on Kurt was broken and Kurt vanished from the Institute. In issue #80 he saves Pyro from the Friends of Humanity. Pyro reveals the existence of the Morlocks. Nightcrawler is captured as the Morlocks believe he is an Xavier spy. Shortly, the X-Men arrive to search for Toad, who was sent as an emissary. A fight ensues. During the battle, Nightcrawler helps his former teammates and managed to subdue Sunder, the leader of the Morlocks. He decided to stay with the Morlocks since they were physically mutated like him. They elect him their new leader. When Sinister targets the Morlocks for sacrifices in his attempts to bring forth Apocalypse, Nightcrawler joins in the fight. Kurt returns to Xavier's on occasion to hang out with his former-teammates and has slowly started to accept Colossus' homosexuality, and even stands up for him when the X-Men discover that he has been using a drug called 'Banshee'. He is also seen to be part of Colossus' Banshee (Ultimate MGH) enhanced X-Men team. In this form, it seems Nightcrawler is wielding javelins of energy, similar to those Blink uses. Ultimate Nightcrawler's powers are very similar to his 616 counterpart. Kurt's demon-like physiology grants him dark, indigo skin (unlike the 616 version in which he is covered with a thin blue fur); a prehensile tail; superhuman acrobatic ability; and control over the inter-atomic bonding between molecules that allows him to cling to any surface. He also has yellow smoke that billows out of his mouth. Most notably, Nightcrawler can teleport short distances, leaving a burst of yellow smoke and flames, though it was mentioned he had teleported a distance of two miles(3 km) previously. It appears that after Nightcrawler has been using the drug 'Banshee', he now seems to burst purple smoke and flames when he teleports, instead of yellow. He dies when the Ultimatum wave hits New York.& issue needed edit Universe X (Belasco) In the futuristic Universe X maxi-series by Jim Krueger and Alex Ross, it is revealed that Nightcrawler became amnesiac and was displaced in time, finally becoming Belasco, a long-time enemy of the X-Men. After his origins are revealed to him by a resurrected Captain Marvel, Nightcrawler/Belasco finally joins the good guys again. edit What If? Nightcrawler has made a number of appearances through the years in the What If? series, consisting of one-issue takes on potential alternate universes. Among his roles were What if the X-Men had stayed in Asgard? (vol. 2 #12), in which Nightcrawler stayed behind on Asgard to be a swashbuckler and eventually joined the Warriors Three. In What if the all-new, all-different X-Men had never existed? (vol. 2 #23), an embittered Nightcrawler, having never been recruited by Professor Xavier, was talked into a life of crime by Erik the Red. However, after learning the truth about the X-Men, he sacrificed himself to destroy the Phoenix Force that was hiding in Earth's sun, reasoning that, while heroes like the X-Men would be mourned by the world, nobody would miss him. edit X-Men: The End Additionally, in X-Men: The End, he is shown to be a famous Hollywood action star (with Jubilee as his agent), and is married to Kymri; the pair have children, including another T.J. Wagner (which is Nocturne's name) however, in this timeline T.J. Wagner is a son. Nocturne is a character in this universe. edit Other media edit Television * In the 1980s animated series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Nightcrawler is among the X-Men who guest-star in the episodes "The X-Men Adventure" and "The Education of a Superhero". * Nightcrawler appears in the 1989 cartoon Pryde of the X-Men, the pilot episode of an un-produced X-Men cartoon series. This was eventually released on VHS. * In the 1992 X-Men animated series, Nightcrawler (voiced by Adrian Hough) makes guest appearances in the episodes "Nightcrawler" and "Bloodlines", but never joins the X-Men. He is shown first in an episode that features him as a monk in a Swiss abbey, persecuted by one of his superiors and the townspeople who believe him to be a demon; Gambit, Rogue, and Wolverine help him through his trials. The second episode reveals his origins as the birth son of Mystique, discovered by his foster sister Rogue. In the end, after a discussion, Mystique apparently dies to save both of them from Graydon Creed and the Friends of Humanity. * In the X-Men: Evolution animated series, Nightcrawler (voiced by Brad Swaile) is a student at the Xavier Institute with much the same nature and demeanor as his older comic book counterpart, although he does not appear to be religious and is more insecure about his appearance. Like the comics, this show reveals that Mystique is his birth mother and Rogue his foster sister. When Mystique is turned to stone, he tries to be there for both his mother and Rogue, even if all his care clashes with Rogue's hatred for Mystique. He uses a holographic inducer to look human which he uses to go to school; the inducer "hides" his fur and tail, creating an image that despite those two details is quite similar to Nightcrawler's own. In his undisguised form, Nightcrawler walks on his toes only, forcing his long feet and legs into a shape like those of a faun, another reference to his 'demonic' appearance. He also has a romantic link with Amanda Sefton, who is portrayed here as an African-American human girl without any prior ties to him, and dates Nightcrawler not minding his mutation. Mystique is revealed as his mother, while in the episode "Shadowed Past", it is strongly hinted that he is the product/victim of genetic experimentation by Magneto, who during that season was experimenting with the advancements of mutant powers, most likely causing Kurt's mutation to emerge prematurely in his infancy. When Nightcrawler uses his teleportation ability in X-Men: Evolution, there is a sudden flash of yellow light preceding the usual smoke. * Nightcrawler appears in the satiric TV series Robot Chicken episode "Sausage Fest." He is among the featured X-Men that are killed in battle against a Sentinel. * Nightcrawler appears in the Wolverine and the X-Men animated series, voiced by Liam O'Brien. He first appears in Episode 1, "Hindsight Pt. 1," training with Kitty Pryde and Colossus. After the school disbands and is later reformed, Nightcrawler takes to helping mutant refugees smuggling aboard ships traveling to Genosha. He encounters and befriends Sammy Paré as well as fighting off Spiral and her pirates. The X-Men arrive, though Kurt tells them he has to ensure the safe passage of the refugees before he can return to the Institute.34. In Episode 10, "Greetings From Genosha," the ship Nightcrawler was on arrives in Genosha. There, the Scarlet Witch tours Nightcrawler around so that he can see the wonders Magneto has done. However, he gets a tip from Dust about Magneto's underground cells. Nightcrawler finds that fact to be true and dodges his Acolytes to escape Genosha by constantly teleporting, only to be intercepted outside of the X-Mansion by Mystique. Mystique then reports to Magneto that she has stopped Nightcrawler as Magneto mentions that he prepared a special cell for him.35. In "Hunting Grounds," Nightcrawler and Scarlet Witch are abducted by Mojo and forced to fight a mind-controlled Wolverine. After thwarting Mojo, Wolverine and Nightcrawler return Scarlet Witch to Genosha where she convinced Magneto to let Wolverine and Nightcrawler go after they saved her. edit Film Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United. In the film X2: X-Men United, Nightcrawler is played by Alan Cumming. This version shares much of the same history (the circus, Catholicism, and being native to Germany) with the comic book inspiration; his scenes with Mystique leave it ambiguous as to whether or not any subsequent sequels will reveal her to be his mother. One major difference between the comic book Nightcrawler and his film counterpart is that he wears ordinary civilian clothing as opposed to an X-Man uniform, as he is not actually a member of the X-Men in the film (or in the tie-in video game either), but instead an ally of the team. His strong sense of humor and 'prankster' nature were practically non-existent in the film, except for one scene where Rogue says she wishes she could overhear what the X-Men and Magneto are discussing around a camp fire. Nightcrawler replies that he could get closer to overhear without being seen, and a minute or so later the others around the camp fire notice him dangling like a bat by his tail from a tree branch just above and behind them. This is arguably the only indication of Nightcrawler's humorous antics in the film, which emphasizes the tragic aspect of the character instead of the clown-like aspect present in the comics and cartoon series. Also, the flash of smoke that accompanies Nightcrawler's teleportation ability appears a dark navy blue in the film, as opposed to the bright reddish-purple as it appears in the comics. Unlike the traditional versions, in the movie Nightcrawler has blue flesh instead of blue fur. His skin is also decorated by "angelic symbols" which reflects the spirituality of the character's faith and his devout practice of Catholicism. This form of artistic body modification is self-inflicted brandings or scars: "One for every sin." The existence of the blue skin was due to the difficulty of creating a furry hide on the actor, so the decision was made to give him blue flesh instead of fur. In the film, Nightcrawler is brainwashed with a fluid from William Stryker's mutant son in order to attempt an assassination on the President of the United States. The opening scenes of the movie are almost a showcase of Nightcrawler's powers, with him versus the Secret Service, defeating them in a memorable fashion. Storm and Jean Grey are sent to find him and bring him back to the mansion, and Wagner goes with them. He helps Storm save the children and stop Stryker's Cerebro at the Alkali Lake facility and joins the team at the end, saving Charles when Stryker's Cerebro was destroyed. He did not appear in X-Men: The Last Stand because, according to the movie's official video game, the character didn't like the violent lifestyle of the X-Men. Furthermore, the crew thought it wasn't worth going through the long hours of preparation given that Cumming didn't enjoy the heavy make-up needed for his character and because Nightcrawler's appearance was only going to be minimal. edit Video games * Nightcrawler has also appeared in a number of video games such as: X-Men for the NES, X-Men: Madness in Murderworld, X-Men arcade game, X-Men, X-Men 2: Clone Wars, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2, and X-Men: Next Dimension. In X-Men: Next Dimension, Nightcrawler can teleport toward, behind, or above the opponent, following it with any attack he chooses. He also carries a large sword he uses to deadly effect. Nightcrawler's incredible acrobatic attacks rival the other agile fighters greatly, which include Beast and Toad.needed * Nightcrawler also appeared as a playable character in X-Men Legends and its sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. He was voiced by Dee Bradley Baker in both games. Nightcrawler's powers include powerful sword attacks and the ability to teleport short distances. To his credit, Nightcrawler possesses the most powerful ultimate ability in the second game. He has a special dialogue with Mister Sinister.needed * He is also one of the 3 playable characters in the game X-Men: The Official Game which fills in the gap between X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand. Nightcrawler is voiced by Alan Cumming, the same one who portrayed him in X2: X-Men United.needed * Dee Bradley Baker reprises his role of Nightcrawler in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. In the game, he is kidnapped by Doctor Doom's Masters of Evil (alongside Jean Grey). A cut-scene involves him trying to escape Castle Doom only to be shocked by a door. He is forced to teleport to Mephisto's Realm by use of the Mutant Amplifier. There, he evades Doctor Doom and Mephisto where he was weakened by the Mutant Amplifier's effect and ends up imprisoned (along with Jean Grey who was sent to help Professor X protect Nightcrawler) by Blackheart after Professor X's psychic shield around Nightcrawler fails. After Blackheart is defeated, the player must choose to save only one and thus let the other one fall into the Infinity Vortex. If the player rescues Jean Grey, Mystique will avenge Nightcrawler by infiltrating the X-Mansion at night to vent her frustration upon Professor X where he will die in a coma months later and the X-Men will disband forever (although, Nightcrawler is shown at Xavier's funeral). If the player rescues Nightcrawler, Jean Grey doesn't die in the Infinity Vortex and will return to Earth in the form of the Dark Phoenix to exact vengeance upon those that didn't save her. Nightcrawler (along with his Age of Apocalypse costume and his Ultimate Marvel costume) is now a downloadable character for the Xbox 360 version of the game. Nightcrawler has special dialogue with Jean Grey after the second fight with her. A Magneto's Dark_Mark mod on PC version will now can save Nightcrawler and Jean Grey, but only use Magneto to saved them. He died when defeating Mephisto along with Jean.needed * Nightcrawler appears in the PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and PSP version of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. In the PS2 and PSP versions, he is an assist character who will teleport across the screen to defeat enemies. In the DS version, the player will be able to play alongside Nightcrawler and take advantage of his unique combat moves and combos as one of the heroes Spider-Man can team up with.needed edit Action Figures * There have been numerous Nightcrawler action figures produced- most by manufacturer Toy Biz, and the most notable being the figure in the Marvel Legends series. edit Books * Nightcrawler appears in the X-Men/Star Trek crossover novel Planet X. In it, Geordi La Forge analyzes his teleportation ability and finds that it works by sending Nightcrawler through the same subspace dimension as warp drive. His ability lets him teleport himself and Data onto an enemy ship since the Enterprise's transporters cannot work through shields.needed edit Music * Nightcrawler is mentioned in the Weezer song In the Garage, along with his ally Kitty Pryde.needed edit "Nightcrawler" in other languages Below is a list of translations of the name "Nightcrawler". * Dutch: Nightcrawler or Harlekein (Harlequin) * Danish: Sorte Springer (Black Knight, a reference to the chess piece). Also called Alf in rare occasions in the old comic books. * French: Diablo (from Diable, Devil) * Finnish: Painajainen (Nightmare) * In older Greek translations, he was called Nightwalker. * Hungarian: Árnyék (Shadow, due to his ability to blend into shadows) * In older Italian translations, he was called Lombrico. * Polish: Nocny Łowca (Night Hunter) * Portuguese: Noturno (Nocturnal) * Russian: Ночной Змей (Night Serpent) * Spanish: Rondador Nocturno (Night Prowler) * Spanish (Latin America): Nocturno (Nocturnal) * Swedish: Nattkryparen edit References 1. ^ IGN Top 25 X-Men 2. ^ Nightcrawler #8 3. ^ "Nightcrawler". X-Men. Fox Network. 1995-05-13. 4. ^ "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed". Open Publishing. 2006-07-20. http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2006/07/20/comic-book-urban-legends-revealed-60/. Retrieved on 2008-08-18. 5. ^ Sanderson, Peter. Interview with Cockrum in The X-Men Companion (Fantagraphics, 1982): "... when I was doing Legion of Super-Heroes, I proposed four new Legionnaires and Nightcrawler was one of them. But Murray Boltinoff's response was that he was too weird looking." 6. ^ Cockrum, Dave (writing as "Dark Bamf"). "Nightcrawler FAQ: How Did Nightcrawler Come to be Created?" Nightcrawlers v2.0 (Sept. 10, 2002). Accessed Apr. 25, 2009. 7. ^ As revealed in X-Men Annual #4 8. ^ Giant-Size X-Men #1 9. ^ X-Men Annual #4 10. ^ Nightcrawler #1–4 11. ^ Uncanny X-Men #210 (October 1986) 12. ^ Uncanny X-Men #211 (November 1986) 13. ^ Excalibur Special Edition #1 14. ^ Uncanny X-Men #475 15. ^ Uncanny X-Men #486 16. ^ New X-Men #46 17. ^ Uncanny X-Men #500 18. ^ Uncanny X-Men #501 19. ^ X-Men: Manifest Destiny #4 20. ^ X-Men: Manifest Destiny; Nightcrawler #1 21. ^ Secret Invasion: X-Men #3 22. ^ X-Infernus #1 23. ^ X-Infernus #2 24. ^ a b X-Infernus #3 25. ^ X-Infernus #4 26. ^ Uncanny X-Men vol.1 #467-468 27. ^ Claremont, Chris. "Rogue Storm!", Uncanny X-Men #147 (July 1981), p. 2. 28. ^ Spider-Man/Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do #5 29. ^ Excalibur vol.1 #65 30. ^ Nightcrawler limited series #1-4 31. ^ Comics Should Be Good! » Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed #14! 32. ^ X-Calibre #1-4 33. ^ Nightcrawler (First series) #3-4 34. ^ Wolverine and the X-Men Ep. 6 35. ^ Wolverine and the X-Men Ep. 10 Category:Stan Lee Category:X-Men Category:Demon-Class Category:Male